Study Finds Bottling Up Work Stress Leads to Heart Disease

Venting at Work Is Good For Your Health

Turns out the strong, silent types at work are only hurting themselves. A new Swedish study of nearly 3,000 men found that the more they bottle up their frustrations at work, the more likely they are to have a heart attack — or even die of one.

Researchers compared "covert coping" methods at work — staying quiet or ignoring a problem and hoping it’ll go away — to "open" methods, like expressing anger or frustration in the moment. Men who used covert coping methods were up to five times more likely to develop heart disease.

The study focused on men, but I think it’s fair to assume that the results would be similar for women. It’s also possible that women are more likely to use open coping methods to begin with. In any case, the moral of the study seems clear: find a constructive way to vent your frustrations at work, whether that means talking to a trusted co-worker, sitting down with your boss, or confronting the source of your stress.